Day 643

Too tired from going to work today, I put off my picture until after dark.

That was a mistake.

I wanted today's picture to be of our Christmas tree. While there aren't any presents under it yet, I thought it would be pretty all lit up. So I snapped my picture after dark with the lights shining bright.

That was a mistake.

It didn't show off the ornaments. The ornaments are important this year. For when we downsized, we downsized Christmas too. All those boxes of ornament sets that I really didn't care much for - gone. All those ornaments that I didn't have much attachment to - gone.

What remains are the ornaments that I absolutely love. The ornaments that have stories behind them. Stories of our lives.

While this picture doesn't showcase all those special ornaments, I did use a special editing tool to give it a 1960s look. Being I was born in the 60s, I imagine that could be story in itself.

Day 642

I intended to get in the sewing room this morning and work on the new kid's quilt I have planned. Unfortunately for me someone else beat me to the room. (It wasn't hubby.)

This little one took over the ironing board, the new fabric I was planning on using, and the little pencil sketch I made of the design.

I didn't have the heart to wake her or pull any items out from under her. She slept there for hours!

Day 641

Years back we bought plum-colored throw pillows for the couch. It didn't take long for us to amass enough green-colored furniture to make the plum pillows obsolete. I whipped up some green slip covers from my fabric stash and we were set.

That was more than ten years ago.

But as of this week those green pillows are no more. With the new dark brown chairs in the living room it was time for another change. Off came the green, but living with the plum again just didn't feel right. Hubby thought about sewing up some brown ones (I think he might actually like sewing!), but I had another idea. 

Pillows to match the quilt that is hanging on the living room wall right now. The quilt from Day 622.

A new joint sewing project between the two of us has resulted in these:

Day 640

It came down to a question my husband posed. Do you want to get better?

As usual, yesterday's appointment with the rheumatologist was a mixture of good news/bad news. The best news was that the ultrasound on my hands showed no new deterioration of the joints. That also meant I didn't have to go back on the chemotherapy and the injections and the anti-malaria drugs for the time being. Unfortunately the ultrasound showed something new. Carpal tunnel syndrome.

It shouldn't be a surprise. With all the typing I do at work and all the sewing I do at home it would be surprising if something didn't show up. But that's only part of the continuation of issues. Pain is still high so he's increased meds for that. My blood work from yesterday still shows way-way-too-high inflammation rates so we're starting something new.

Steroids.

Every time the doctor has brought up steroids I've declined them. The side effects have always worried me and after seeing hubby on them the last few months I've become even more leery. But when hubby asked, Do you want to get better? I only had one answer.

Yes.

So after trying to stave off steroids for years, I guess I'm going down that road. And I'm not happy about it.

The only thing I'm really happy about right now is the next sewing project for us. Some applique, some additional fabric, and a soon-to-be festive set of pillows for the new living room. (If you've been reading the blog over the last month or so you might recognize some of the cut-out pieces and will be able to predict what the design will be.)

Day 639

When I look back to the early days when we first married I sometimes think, why did I do that?

Take Christmas presents for example. Young hubby would shop for me at Christmas, but being he was/is only able to use one hand he found it difficult to wrap presents. Some years he would pay to have things wrapped at the mall, but mostly he brought the presents home unwrapped.

And I would wrap them.

Wrap them with a twist. Hubby wanted me to be surprised on Christmas so I would wrap presents blindfolded. (Do you know how hard that can be?!) We still joke about that now, but now I have also gotten wiser. I wrap my own presents not blindfolded, but only if I've bought them myself. (Otherwise he uses a gift bag.)

I bought these sewing scissors for Christmas and they just arrived in the mail today. I'll soon have them wrapped and under the tree but I just had to take a picture first.

The most beautiful pair of scissors I've ever owned!